Brits 'did not get on board' with swine flu hygiene precautions
Swine flu might have highlighted the need for health insurance when there was a global outbreak in 2009, but it appears that Britons did not take hygiene precautions seriously.
Research carried out by Dr Gillian SteelFisher from the Harvard School of Public Health in the US examined the attitudes of people in the UK, US, Argentina, Japan and Mexico.
The results were published in the medical journal Lancet Infectious Diseases, revealing that only 27 per cent of Britons covered their mouth or nose with a tissue more than normal when they coughed or sneezed during the H1N1 pandemic.
In addition, handwashing, keeping away from others who had flu symptoms and reducing travel on public transport were other measures not fully embraced by Brits.
In the US 61 per cent covered up more to prevent spreading or catching the virus, while 77 per cent of Mexicans, 64 per cent of Argentineans and 48 per cent of Japanese people said that they used a tissue more often.
As with most infections, some people are more at risk of suffering complications if they catch flu, including those who have chronic lung disease, heart disease, liver problems, diabetes mellitus and neurological problems.
"The wide variations between countries in our study shows that in the event of another serious outbreak of infectious disease, public perceptions have to be taken into account to best tailor and communicate policy approaches that need public support in each country," added Dr SteelFisher.
"Our findings suggest that promoting non-pharmaceutical interventions – such as handwashing and avoiding large public gatherings of people – do not jeopardise the adoption of vaccination, though the uptake of vaccines was low compared to other behaviours in all countries we surveyed."
Professor Alison Holmes, from Imperial College London, added that establishing which protective behaviours are effective is not sufficient, but it is in fact important to understand how populations make sense of recommendations and adopt them.
Thankfully, the World Health Organization declared in August 2010 that the pandemic was officially over.